Worldbuilding Is War
Your Competitors Weaponized Their Tools. You're Still Collecting Them.
Welcome to my Worldbuilding 101 Series. This is your initiation into the art of building a profit-driven business infused with authenticity and future-focused strategies.
Business is just like nature.
Brutal, hierarchical and chaotic.
The market is always in constant flux due to factors beyond our control.
Humans and non-humans alike have always prioritize their immediate needs
Survival requires this of us - adapt or die.
So 2.6 million years ago,
we decided that tool usage would be our
medium of adaption.
Our survival strategy became a simplified formula:
Find Problem → Find tool → Use tool → Problem solved It is so ubiquitous that every business uses it
But what if I told you this ‘simple’ formula is the reason why most businesses are floundering?
It is believed that non-humans were the first to utilize tools
This is seen even today within the animal kingdom:
Chimpanzees using sticks to penetrate termite mounds for food.
Birds dropping nuts on the road so cars can crack them open.
Elephants using branches to swat flies and scratch their backs.
We eventually caught up with non-humans and adapted our own usage of tools.
Eventually we developed a deep preoccupation with creating more intricate tools through time.
“One of the most common uses of early stone tools was to crack open bones in order to get to the marrow. Some researchers believe this was our original niche…Why marrow? Well, suppose you observe a pride of lions take down and devour a giraffe. You wait patiently until they’re done. But it’s still not your turn because first the hyenas and jackals – and you don’t dare interfere with them – scavenge the leftovers. Only then would you and your band dare approach the carcass, look cautiously left and right – and dig into the edible tissue that remained. This is a key” - Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens
The original humans were scavengers.
They used tools to extract marrow from bones and fed off of carcass scraps that vultures didn’t even want because they were too scared to hunt.
And understandably so …
They had little leverage - inferior weaponry, lackluster hunting strategies, and limited mobility to hunt and chase prey.
It was only when they were willing to risk life and limb that they were able to dine on meat and flesh.
This same analogy applies to business:
How many of you are dining off scraps that vultures wouldn’t even want?
Fighting for vanity metrics that don’t bring in sales
Waiting for the elusive algorithm to finally ‘select you’
Giving endless value + tips that are met with resistance, indifference and sometimes theft
Waiting for consistent sales
Charging less than you are worth
Instead of targeting these issues first hand you hide under a false sense of morality:
“I just want to be affordable”
“I want to help my community”
“My time will come”
You treat your business like a charity and then wonder
why no one feels the need to pay you your worth.
I told a client recently that they are the first woman in their bloodline
able to put a dollar sign to their work and yet here they are low balling themselves.
“If you were on the auction block, your own handlers would have sold you for more”
She winced and reluctantly nodded her head.
This is the mindset that has held many of you back.
You are resourceful and hardworking yet where has it gotten you?
Look at your bank account and tell me if that number reflects what you deserve.
And if you come from a marginalized identity
You are the backup option
The fallback
The bottom of the pecking order
No one is moved or impressed by you being cheap - they expect that of you.
Why?
Because you are the person people turn to in dire situations when they need a convenient dumping ground.
When they are all out of money and need a place to rest their head - they know to call
on you .
A vulture always knows where to find a dead carcass
And so they dine on your
free advice
free community
“inspirational” content
while you scavenge through their empty pats on the head.
They give their best to their oppressive overlords and after they are rode hard and put away wet they come to you for comfort.
You foolishly think this is a compliment.
Your bank account says otherwise.
Survival mode has led you here.
You know how to make something out of nothing
It’s helped you sniff out what others deem disposable.
But is that truly all you aspire for yourself?
To be a marrow collector while others dine on flesh?
The scavenger is afraid of a paywall and hesitates to name their price.
The hunter knows their worth and goes for the kill.
Who do you think will thrive in business?
Who do you think will drown in resentment?
Many business owners using tools have nothing to show for it.
Why?
